My Year in Review (in photos)

2018 was another active year for this 73 year old outdoorsman. My annual winter trip to Florida began with a stop in Indiana to visit my youngest son and his family -- OK, maybe mainly to see my grand-daughter and newborn grandson. A trip to the fabulous Indianapolis Children's Museum was a must...

Here's the newest young man...

My older son and his family were also there for the baptism, so I got my first photo of all four of the grandkids together...

Louisville was the next stop to see my cousins and my 99 year old uncle...

This turned out to be my final visit as he passed away on December 31st, just weeks before my next visit.

And then another stop in Nashville to visit my sister and brother-in-law and do a few days of biking...

Then it was on to Florida for three days of mountain biking in the magnificent Appalachicola National Forest...

...followed by a week of canoeing and camping down 74 miles of the Suwannee River from Fargo, Georgia, on a Sierra Club Outing...

Then I had a beautiful 2 weeks of biking a dozen of my favorite northern and central Florida trails in Chiefland, Gainesville, Brooksville, Ocala, and elsewhere, including...

...The Nature Coast Trail over the Lower Suwannee River...

...The Cross Florida Greenway on the Land Bridge over I-95...

...The Santos Trails out of Ocala...

Then it was time to head back north, stopping in Alabama to bike a new trail (to me) near Atlanta, the Silver Comet Trail, a Hall of Fame trail...

Then a stop in Chattanooga allowed another ride on their scenic Riverwalk Trail...

...which, I discovered, connects to their South Chickamaugua Trail (another new trail to me), which has more boardwalk segments than any trail I've ever biked (and I've biked 240 trails across the country.)

Next stop was Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee near the Kentucky border, for a week of camping as we did a week of volunteer trail work...

Back home, I continued biking my local forest preserves, finishing the year with 2201 miles along with 857 miles of hiking and 74 miles of paddling. In 1999 I began logging my exercise mileage on spreadsheets, and the mileage totals after 20 years are biking (39,371), hiking (12,806), and paddling (2077). In my spare time, I also set a personal record by reading 66 books this year. Retirement is wonderful!

And yes, the hiking continues all through the winter...

The saddest part of the year was in early December, when it became necessary to let my 18 year old housemate, M&M, depart peacefully after oral cancer had ravaged her. I had rescued/adopted her 16 years ago and we'd been fast-pals ever since, with her following me from room to room, always on my lap or sitting alongside me. RIP dear friend!

But then the Christmas season returned joy to my heart, first with our 23rd annual church choir Christmas concert with orchestra...

...and also our family's Christmas Eve party -- a tradition for six decades and four generations.

And here's a brief video of our family celebration...




And the season's festivities also brought my grandkids together again...

A great year! And my wish to all of you is for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Biking Daytona International Speedway

In 2014 I participated in a Road Scholar biking program in DeLand, Florida. Our second day of the program had a very special treat. Bike Florida Week was in progress and happened to be in nearby Daytona Beach, so we joined the 800 other bikers on 38 miles of their 50 mile route, which included biking one lap (2.25 miles) around the famed oval of Daytona International Speedway.  

Below is a photo I took on the 31 degree banked turn (which we not allowed to experience on our bikes.) The banking is so extreme that it was not possible to hold the bike upright on the banking -- the pedal would hit the high side!

I stopped at the famous Winner's Circle...

Some big names in racing were evident there...

My First Mountain Bike Ride -- Colorado's Routt National Forest

Our family vacation in 1987 was to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a trip that not only returned me to my beloved Colorado Rockies but also introduced me to both backpacking and mountain biking, activities that have dominated my outdoor life for the last three decades.  I had never heard of the Routt National Forest, but I fell in love with it on a 15 mile day hike from Rabbit Ears Pass, along the Continental Divide Trail, and then down to Fish Creek Falls. On this hike, I noticed numerous obvious campsites along the trail, triggering the urge to learn to backpack which we did as a family two years later after outfitting our family of four with the necessary gear. I have subsequently done over 60 backpack trips, some with friends, some with my sons, and many solo, as I've explored over 50 wilderness areas across the country, including a return to the Routt with a 1990 backpack here in its Mt. Zirkel Wilderness.

The next day, we rented mountain bikes at a local outdoor shop, and after asking the store clerk if there was a place to ride in the national forest, he said yes, there was a very nice but strenuous 20 mile bike loop available.  He told us to bike over to the gravel Buffalo Road and head up it. We had to walk the bikes in a couple of really steep sections, but all three of us, my wife, 15 year old son, and I, were all runners and in good shape. The views looking back at the town far below us were awesome. My 10 year old son was not old enough for this experimental ride.

The clerk had told us to watch for a particular set of landmarks, and when we saw them, we then spotted the narrow trail that headed back down the mountain. This was Spring Creek Trail which we began biking down, and had an amazing adventure!  Here's my 15 year old son...

As I look at these 31 year-old photos now, I'm chagrined that we didn't have helmets on. All our biking around home was on residential streets, and helmets were not in vogue back then so the thought had never entered my mind when we rented the bikes. And the fact that the clerk didn't supply them or even mention them indicates to me that the times were very different back in 1987. Nowadays I would never bike without a helmet! Below is a photo of me coming down the Spring Creek Trail (in my Cubs hat)...

Biking through little creeks was new to us, of course, but didn't deter us -- just added to the fun of this new experience.

This stimulated my desire to do more such biking, and a few years later, I bought my first mountain bike, a Specialized Hard Rock, which replaced my 15 year old Sears Deluxe Varsity bike.

We had a forest preserve just three miles from our house, and one of my regular local biking routes travelled the residential street that paralleled the forest preserve for a mile. So one day, with my new mountain bike which I was still getting used to, I ventured into the forest for a mile, but when the trail turned south, I went back out to the road and continued my usual route.  

That joy I’d experienced in the woods remained with me all day and night, so the next day I biked that route once more, veered into the woods again, and was so captivated by the forest ride that I made the turn south and biked the entire six mile loop that followed the perimeter of the preserve.  

The trail had constant twists and turns and was replete with rocks and roots and ruts, and in the western section of the preserve it was like a roller coaster with up and down hills and constant blind turns, providing a challenging workout, wondrous scenery, and wildlife sightings. I was so enthralled that I shunned my normal street rides and solely biked in the woods. Twice I nearly hit deer that were blocking the trail as they browsed the bushes as I came around blind turns. 

But it still wasn’t enough. The preserve continued on the east side of the road that ran through its center.  I was familiar with the woods over there because I had devised my high school's home cross country course there (I was one of the coaches) so I biked over there and explored the east side’s four miles of dirt single track. I loved it too, and added it to my biking route, thus making a 16 mile route which I biked many dozens of times over the next 30 years, and even though I've moved into my retirement townhouse 30 minutes away (which is right next to another preserve) I still return to my old favorite many times each year. I've since replaced the Hard Rock with a Trek mountain bike, but I still have the old bike for friends who wish to join me on a ride.

Though I'm in my mid-70s now, I've biked 2200 miles this year. In 1999, I began a spreadsheet to log my biking, hiking, and paddling mileage, and now after 20 years my totals are biking (39,323), hiking (12,749), and paddling (1930).

Christmas in the Village

For 23 years, The Village Church of Barrington (Illinois) has offered a gift to the community in the form of a free concert by the church choir and orchestra. "Christmas in the Village" has become a signature piece and always fills the sanctuary for both performances. This year's concert was entitled "Great Joy" and excerpts from the songs are in the video below -- the hour concert in 12 minutes!

In Memorium: M&M

I’ve had cats all my life but M&M was the sweetest, most affectionate of them all. She was nearly 18 years old, 16 with me after I adopted her from Sav-A-Pet. Previous cats were family pets, and with my teaching job, coaching cross country, directing the school's Variety Show, working track meets and basketball games. etc., the wife and kids were around the cats far more than I was. But M&M was my retirement pet -- it was just the two of us most of the time -- so we developed a special bond.

She loved to travel in my van on trips from 20 minutes to 12 hours in length. Whenever I took her to a friend for cat-sitting while I was going on a trip, M&M would sit on the passenger seat, sometimes with paws on the window, and watch the scenery go by. After getting used to the vehicle movement and road noises, she would get on my lap as I drove (on cruise control) and fall asleep. Then a slight movement of my leg to tap the brakes and she’d take umbrage and growl a bit and go back to sleep.

Her food, water, and litter box were just behind the seat and she’d use them when needed. When I’d stop for gas or at a rest stop or restaurant, she’d climb up onto the dashboard and lean against the windshield glass, soaking in the sun. When I’d return, she always wanted to stay on the dash but I wouldn’t let her in case I had to brake suddenly.

One trip I was having breakfast in a restaurant and two young kids in the next booth exclaimed to their folks,
"Look, there’s a cat in the van window!” I laughed and told them her name was M&M, and then they laughed at her name, so I told them how she had been left at a pet shelter’s back door, in a  box with M&M candy in it. The shelter then named her M&M.

She was quite a climber and jumper in her youth. Jumping up tp the kitchen counter was simple, and then a short jump atop the refrigerator. Lots of my cats over the years had done that.

When I moved into my retirement townhouse, I immediately finished the basement into a place for large family gatherings. The ceiling was wallboard and this little girl would jump from shelf to shelf in the abutting workshop/mechanical room and also the storage area, thus gaining access to the joist channels above the ceiling. 

I finally had to staple cardboard onto the joist ends to block access (as seen below) fearing she'd get caught and need rescuing. Any high place was fair game for her!

When I was painting the stairway to the finished basement, I found her at the top of my 15 foot ladder!

The Christmas tree was another of her play things. She loved Christmas and I had to leave the bottom half of the tree without ornaments to prevent her from knocking them off, and I had to place it far enough away from furniture and window sills and the half-wall to prevent her from playing with ornaments on the upper half of the tree. One night when I came home I found the tree like this -- she had obviously climbed it and it toppled. I wonder if it frightened her.

A cockatiel lived with us for a while and she was quite interested in it!

One of her cat sitters taught her to drink water from faucets, so sinks became a favorite place for her.

Warm laundry fresh from the dryer always made for a nice place to sleep.

Her favorite toys were a bunch of cloth mice filled with catnip. She still had her claws so she could catch them and hold them up with her claws. I would throw one down the stairs and she'd retrieve it and bring it back. And in the new house, the dining room had a 2 story ceiling with a  walkway above. She'd reach through the railing and I'd throw a mouse up and she'd catch it with two paws or just the claws. The problem was, I was getting all the exercise with that game -- she just sat there waiting for me to throw the next one.

Here she is relaxing on that second floor walkway with the dining room behind her down below.

Any place was great place to catch a nap...

...especially if it had a view of the birds outside...

Of course, my legs and lap are the best bed...

A special thanks to the fine ladies who have served as cat sitters over the 16 years I had M&M: Ellen T., Ellen W., Becky, Lauren, Kathy R., and the late Noeline.

Farewell, dear M&M: You will never be forgotten or replaced!